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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Hillary Clinton's Speech

Hello, everyone~!

After I came home and eat dinner, I looked for something that interested me. That was Hillary Clinton's concession speech. I actually read the quote of her on the Japanese edition of NEWSWEEK, and that was "Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. "

I've heard about the term "glass ceiling" many times before, and though it was one of the ways she expressed herself in the speech I was surprised to hear that even the person like her felt glass ceiling standing in front of her and couldn't break it this time. I'll keep some of the speech here just for me to remember.


Now, on a personal note – when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for President, I always gave the same answer: that I was proud to be running as a woman but I was running because I thought I'd be the best President. But I am a woman, and like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious.

I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.

I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter's future and a mother who wants to lead all children to brighter tomorrows. To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect. Let us resolve and work toward achieving some very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits and there are no acceptable prejudices in the twenty-first century.
(From npr)

As a reader of her book "Living History", the fact that she ended up suspending her campaign disappointed me a little bit because she's been so passionate about the current situation in the US and has worked as much as she can to make every one's voice heard. Though people criticize her sometimes, I respect her because she has been capable of turning her ideas into actions. There's a lot difference between people who say something actively but don't act, and those who say something and act at the same time.

In addition to what she says, I learned a lot from the way she did speech. I don't do speeches in front of so many people like her, but sometimes I have to do presentations in English. So, it gave me tips for how to make people listen by taking a moment sometimes, how I should keep being paid attention to, and how I should choose words to make what I want to say sticky or easy to remember.

If you want more detail or listen to her speech,
Go to npr.org.

Alright, that's all for today!

1 comment:

Karen said...

Hi, Hiromi/Hiromin-san,

Thanks for visitng my blog the other day. :)

I love her speeches, too! The tone of her voice, choice of words...I like all elements of her speeches, sounding smart and energetic. Actually, she is very very smart. I'm trying to speak like her to sound smart and convincing. But it's a long way to go! Thank you for sharing the excerpt and the npr link. I'll definitely check it out.

By the way, I like your blog! Both design and content are great. Awesome pictures at the top right! I've been to Washington D.C. , too. I miss the city, especially, National Gallery of Art.